The invention relates to ejection devices for use in a production line. This invention also relates to devices for supporting a movable endless chain and the like.
This invention may be used with conveyers having a plurality of rows of articles and especially food articles.
It is well-known to use sprockets and rollers for use with chains, so as to support an endless chain or belt for movement through an endless path. It is also well-known to use sprocket teeth to engage the spaces between the individual elements forming a typical chain. Such chains are commonly used with bicycles, and such chains have the advantage of being relatively, precisely controllable through the use of individual sprocket teeth, and durable.
It is well-known to use pivoting numbers in connection with conveyer belts. The Prior Art pivoting members for use with conveyer belts cannot be used with multiple rows which are closely spaced, without suffering sufficient downtime loses do to breaking of an individual one of the conveyer belts. Maintenance of and replacement of a single individual conveyer belt on a pivoting section in the Prior Art would require removal of the entire drive shaft, making necessary extensive disassembly and re-assembly operations where the individual belt is for example between other conveyer belts rather than on the end. This lack of accessability, in a practical sense, limits the number of rows of articles which can be handled by such a pivoting conveyer system. Also, since the Prior Art pivoting conveyor members are difficult to maintain when a belt breaks, they may be undesirable for use in a high production system where there is only limited storage for articles coming off the conveyor belts, and which articles cannot be processed during the maintenance time. Furthermore, the Prior Art pivoting conveyor belts do not provide for rapid replacement of an integral belt, but would require use of a spliced belt which is stretched around the rollers and then joined in place. Such spliced belts do not last as long as integral belts which have been formed as a continuous band.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,775 to McClellan shows in FIG. 2 a linearly-movable arm 22 which causes pivoting of an arm 18 which in turn causes pivoting of a conveyor belt 25. Pivoting causes dropping of a brick between two adjacent conveyor belts, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is noteworthy from an inspection of FIGS. 3 and 4 that two different pivoting conveyor belt sections must be pivoted in order for a brick 51 to drop. This is a result of the parallel adjacent members 56, 58 and 60, 62, as well as members 57 and 59 which are adjacent to members 61 and 65. These pivoting conveyor belt segments can be actuated by electrical, pneumatic, or other signals to drop selected bricks upon crosswise-moving belts to classify bricks according to color, finish, or other characteristics. However, this patent does not teach or suggest mounting a plurality of closely-spaced conveyor belt members for selective pivoting (or other movement) out of a conveyor belt path to permit dropping of selected articles, wherein the closely-spaced conveyor belts are driven in such a manner as to render any single one of the closely-spaced conveyor belts replaceable with a continuous band conveyor belt rather than a spliced conveyor belt.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,074 to Fischer teaches a pivoting conveyor belt segment having an actuator 14, for clearing spoiled items from an overlapped stream of paper products. A three-flight conveyor belt transporting system is rocked bodily, so as to have an upper and a lower position, so that a continuous stream of spoiled items can be transferred downwardly under the next flight to a separate delivery. FIGS. 1 and 2 are illustrative, and show a sensor 17 such as a photoelectric cell together with a processing unit 18 capable of actuating a solenoid of valve 15, so as to drive cylinder 14. However, there is not teaching or suggestion of a plurality of commonly-driven conveyor belt segments which are selectively movable out of a conveying relationship and which are so connected with a drive means that any single belt can be replaced with a continuous belt without removing any other parts.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,966 to Chandhoke teaches a cylinder 144 which causes pivoting of a conveyor belt segment 32 between rolls 46 and 54, between an upper conveying and a lower position. When the conveyor belt 32 is in the lower position, a member 134, 136, which is a rake, forms a bridge between the pulleys 46 and the T-shaped member 98 to support the books from the binder 12 on the upstream portion 30 of the conveyor 20. The articles so supported by the rake are thus in place ready to move the conveyor end portion 32 returns to its horizontal position. However, there is no teaching of a plurality of commonly-driven conveyor belt segments which are selectively movable out of a conveying relationship and which are so connected with a drive means that any single belt can be changed without removing any other parts, thereby permitting the use of continuous belts.
Other patents showing related types of conveying and diverting devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,166,525; 3,640,372; 4,499,988; 4,130,193; 3,354,613; 1,762,772; 828,296; and 2,675,118.